Midnight Interruptions
by LillianMW
Summary: They need to put an end to these sleeping arrangements.
1. Chapter 1

**Midnight Interruptions**  
by Leela

"Fuck," he murmured sleepily as the sound of wailing reached the room.

"I'll get her."

"No," he said, placing a hand on her bare hip and stilling her in place. He paused for a moment, pressing his nose to her neck and when she sighed he wished he could ignore his daughter's cries and stay in bed with her, do things to her he was already picturing in his head, but parenthood didn't allow him the freedom. "I got her."

Moments later he was back, with Judith wearing nothing but a fresh diaper in his arms. She was gnawing on a bottle and when he settled her into bed the one year old instantly reached for Andrea. He crawled in after her, still naked.

"Hey!" Andrea said playfully, and Judith took the bottle out of her mouth long enough to give Andrea a slobbery grin.

Rick sighed, sandwiching his daughter between himself and Andrea. "We have to do something about this."

As the sounds of Judith sucking on her bottle lulled her, Andrea moaned. "What."

"She needs to learn to sleep in her own bed."

Andrea huffed. "She's a baby, Rick."

"She'll always be a baby," he said, sneaking an arm around her bare waist. "So what, we're still gonna let her sleep with us when she's 25?"

Andrea opened her eyes and grinned devilishly. "Trust me, when she's 25 we're the last people she's gonna be sleeping with."

He groaned and gave her a reproachful look. "_Fuck_ that."

Andrea laughed, and as she settled down she ran a hand along Judith's hair. "It's okay."

"We're spoiling her," Rick murmured.

"I like spoiling her."

"I like spoiling _you_," Rick said, running his hand up her back. Judith continued to suck on her bottle, looking at Andrea, blissfully unaware. "And right now she's getting in the way of that."

She smiled. "I'm just gonna have to deal with it."

Rick kissed her nose. "What am _I_ supposed to do?"

"There's the bathroom, if you're that desperate," Andrea teased him and he grinned. Moments later Judith was done with her bottle, and she lifted and pressed it to Rick's chin, stubborn and demanding he put it away immediately.

He sighed, taking the bottle and placing it on the nightstand. "She gets that from you."

And then Judith pressed herself into the space between Andrea's breasts, and Andrea looked at him with a smile. "She gets that from you."

He chuckled and kissed her, and something unsaid passed along between them.

The truth was, Judith wasn't theirs. She wasn't Andrea's just as much as she wasn't Rick's, and that became evident by the day. Her dark hair, her dark eyes, her elfish ears. They both knew, deep down, that they were raising another couple's daughter. Self-aware like Lori, stubborn like Shane, rough and tumble like a perfect combination of the two of them. There was nothing Judith could "get" from either of them, because she'd already gotten everything she could from Shane and Lori.

They both knew it, and they both struggled with it at various intervals, but every night, at midnight, when Judith wanted nothing more than to crawl in between them, it didn't matter.

Moments later Judith reached for his ear and fell asleep with her head in Andrea's chest and her fingers rubbing his earlobe for comfort. Andrea sighed one last time, falling asleep with her hand on Judith's stomach and her head on his shoulder. And Rick smiled, reaching over and pulling them both closer.

He _knew_ they had to deal with these sleeping arrangements. Every night they brought Judith to bed with them, and every night he came up with a plan to put an end to it.

But every night, he backed down.

Because every night he realized he might be the last man on Earth lucky enough to fall asleep with his whole family in his arms.


	2. Chapter 2

_You guys asked for more, so here's another chapter. Warning: sex._

* * *

Light caught her attention before her body even became fully aware of itself and she frowned, sighing slightly.

Before her eyes opened she felt a tiny, slimy finger on her lower lip and she smiled, gearing herself up for the morning routine. Sure enough, when she opened her eyes Judith lay pressed to her chest, her honey brown eyes wide and her lips curled up into a huge grin. She poked her finger to Andrea's mouth again, smiling proudly.

"Hi," Andrea said quietly. Somehow during the night they had shifted and Rick now lay behind her, his broad chest pressed to her back and his nose buried into her neck. She could always tell his varying degrees of exhaustion and she knew this morning he could use a few more hours of sleep.

Judith didn't share her thoughts and she relentlessly kicked her legs. Andrea wondered how someone so tiny could have _so_ much energy at six in the morning.

"Shh," Andrea warned her, trying to calm her enthusiasm.

But Judy quickly propped herself up on her knees in a playful manner, pressing a saliva coated finger to Rick's lips.

"Dada!"

"_Quiet_," Andrea hissed at her. "Come here." She reached for the baby, laying her back down and digging her hand into her diaper to see if she needed a change. To her surprise, Judith was still dry, so she soothed and kissed her head. "Daddy's sleeping."

"No," Judith protested and before she knew it, Andrea felt the curl of Rick's lips against her skin.

"Yes, and we need to be quiet cause daddy's been looking for an excuse to kick you out," Andrea whispered, knowing Rick was now awake and listening. "So we need to let him sleep or he'll be cranky."

But Judith did the exact opposite and laughed instead, reaching for Andrea's nose and sticking her tongue out.

"What are you two babbling about?" Rick suddenly said groggily, pressing himself closer to Andrea and sneaking a hand in between her breasts.

Andrea opened her mouth widely at Judith, who smiled at her. "See? Now daddy's awake."

"Mm," Rick moaned, kissing her shoulder.

Andrea sighed as she felt him down below. "Someone else is awake, too."

"Dada," Judith repeated and Andrea tried to extricate herself away from Rick as he nuzzled her neck and parted her legs with his knee.

"Rick, stop."

He protested with a hand on her hip. "Andrea—"

She sighed as Judith brought a leg up to her mouth and tried to bite her own toe. "Seriously?"

He continued to nibble on the space between her shoulder and her neck as she tried to stop him. "Been a while."

"What's 'a while,'" she asked him as a way to distract him, but his arousal was obvious and pressed to the space between her butt cheeks. "A day?"

"Come on," he whispered huskily into her ear. "At least a week."

"A week, wow," she said, turning to the little girl. "A week, Jude. Next time we go out remind me to get you the world's tiniest violin so you can play it for your father."

He chuckled, a low rumble that, despite herself, had her growing warm as well. "Can we do something about this?"

As she sighed he traced the contour of her ear with his lips and she closed her eyes. "Rick, for God's sake."

"_Please, _darling," he moaned, pressing himself to her once more.

Andrea clicked her tongue, looking around to locate her robe. "Hold on." Before she even finished tying it on Judith was already reaching for her, and as she picked up the little girl in her arms she gave Rick a sneer.

"Don't look so smug."

He gave her a grin that she felt in the pit of her stomach and found herself quickening her pace as she passed each room. She knocked on the door softly in case the rest were still sleeping, and when Carol opened the door she suddenly felt a shame that had her ears turning red.

"Morning, you two."

"Morning," Andrea said, coloring red as she laughed shyly. "Um, Carol, I need a _huge_ favor."

Carol looked at her knowingly. "You need me to watch her."

"I-I'm sorry. Yeah, I do. I'm sorry." Andrea fumbled with her words and feeling her cheeks burning. "Just for a few minutes."

Carol raised an eyebrow at her. "A _few_ minutes?"

Andrea chuckled slightly and nodded, handing Judith over. "Maybe more than a few minutes."

"Hm."

Judith tried to heave herself back quickly, her arms reaching for Andrea. "Mama."

"Shh," Carol said as she bounced the baby in her arms and Andrea reconsidered by reaching for the child with a sorrowful frown. "Mama's gonna go get lucky."

Andrea turned redder. "Carol!"

"Oh," Carol said dismissively, clicking her tongue humorously and swooshing Andrea away. The two women shared a devilish look before Andrea burst into shy laughter. Carol grinned widely at her. "Go get him, tiger."

"God," she laughed shyly as she pressed her hands to her face but Carol didn't seem to judge. She disappeared into her room with Judith quickly and Andrea only stood there a moment longer before she tip toed her way back into their room.

As she locked the door behind her she drank in the sight of Rick, with his hands behind his neck and his body naked under the sheets. She bit her lip as she approached him, throwing caution to the wind and climbing into bed, straddling his hips. His hands came up to her waist immediately as he smiled up at her. He thrust himself up towards her and she released a little moan, feeling him hard between her legs despite the layers between them.

"She good?" he inquired as he curled a fist into the front of her robe and dragged her mouth down to his, foregoing her silky robe and digging a hand deeper and deeper until he found one of her breasts and kneed smoothly.

Andrea ground herself hard down to his pelvis as he claimed her mouth for a few moments until she pulled away. "You have a few minutes."

"Minutes?" he joked, chuckling as he began to disrobe her. "You're insulting me."

"Carol's words, not mine."

He pressed his mouth to her chest. "Carol can eat her words."

"Will she?" Andrea said. "Or will _you_?"

He pulled back to look at her and smile at the devilish arc of her brow. He couldn't stop grinding up at her and she was warm and wet and he felt like a teenager humping his first girlfriend in the back of his car.

At her daring words he flipped her onto her back, reveling in the sounds of her giggling and claiming her mouth as his hands drifted further and further below.

"I have more of a sweet tooth," he whispered into her ear.

And despite the shuddering she felt at his husky tone she rolled her eyes.

Rick chuckled as he kissed his way down her stomach and Andrea curled a hand into the sheets to brace herself. She watched him get lost between her legs, and felt his fingers part her folds before she felt his tongue on her. Her head rolled back and she tried to be quiet, but when he inserted one finger into her and then another she moaned, hoping everyone was still asleep.

He didn't stop, lapping his tongue all around her, kissing her gently and when she felt a distant shudder she tangled her fingers into his hair. "Rick."

But he continued until her eyes closed and her hand gripped the sheets tight, coming with a loud sigh to avoid being heard.

What felt like days later she felt his smile against her, and he kissed his way up her body again, stopping at each breast, and when his mouth found hers again he moaned.

"Hmm," he said as he kissed her slowly. "Breakfast of champions."

Andrea rolled her eyes. "So vulgar."

Rick grinned at her, pressing himself to her, hard. "You love it."

She wrapped her legs around him as he buried his lips into her neck and he couldn't wait any longer. She gripped him, positioning him at her entrance and he pushed in slowly, letting out a small grunt that she felt in her stomach.

He moved slowly at first, wanting to enjoy a moment they might not get for god knows how long. He kissed her long and languidly, his tongue swirling in and out of her mouth as he pushed in and out. But then as usual, his fire got the best of him and he began to move faster.

She gripped his shoulders, hanging on tight as he pulled a leg up to reach deeper inside her. The headboard banged once or twice against the wall but they were too immersed in the moment to hear it.

"Rick—"

He pulled his head back for a second to seek out her lips. "Come here."

He kissed her until she couldn't breathe any longer and had to turn her face away. He found her neck instead. As she gasped out loud she clung to his neck. "Rick—"

"Come on," he urged her on, feeling his own unravel and seconds later her internal muscles clasped tight around him, and he couldn't hold on anymore. He pressed his jaw to her neck and he let out a guttural groan as he felt everything in him spill into her, hot and hard, her milky white legs wrapped around him smoothly as his body shivered.

He stayed on her as he tried to get himself back together and her fingers moved up and down his back. He was heavy, but she always loved the weigh of him on her. Sometimes she wished he would just crush her so they could stay joined together until they ceased breathing.

But after a moment he rolled off of her, landing next to her with a heavy sigh.

Andrea looked at him. His eyes were closed and he smiled at the ceiling in bliss. She chuckled as she rested her head on his chest. "I guess maybe it _was_ a week."

"God," he whispered as his lazy arm came around her shoulders. "Fuck."

Andrea cringed. "We're gonna have to stop using that word."

He finally opened his eyes with a sigh and pressed a kiss to her lips. "As long as we can keep pantomiming it."

She chuckled lowly and dropped a kiss to his chest. "We have to get up."

"Why?"

"Judith's gonna need a bottle," Andrea said.

"Carol's got it."

"It's not Carol's responsibility," she said. "I feel bad enough asking her to watch the baby so you can get laid."

"Like you didn't just get laid, too," he teased her, grinning.

She blushed and pushed his chest. "I mean it."

Rick smiled, running his fingers along her arm. "She loves Judith. She'd watch her for days if we asked her."

"It's still not fair," Andrea said.

He sighed, feeling the soothing ache in his muscles. What he wouldn't give to stay in bed for the rest of the day, not have to worry about the baby, or Carl, or the house, or the rotting corpses outside. What he wouldn't give for a lazy Sunday with Andrea, just one, bring food to bed and proceed to burn the calories after each meal.

But such indulgences belonged to the old world, a world that was gone, and now they had pressing matters.

Still, as he grunted trying to sit up, he grabbed her hand and pulled her out of bed. "Shower."

Andrea agreed with a squint of her eyes and stretched her sore muscles in place as Rick filled the tub. Right away she knew a shower wasn't what he had in mind, but as long as they were both clean (and quick) she wouldn't complain.

He was already in the tub when she walked into the bathroom. When he spotted her he reached for her hand and she climbed in, wincing at the hot temperature of the water. Hot water was so rare these days that once again she thanked God that they were able to find a place like this, with plenty of rooms and its own heating. She used to take Southern people for granted, back when she was a yuppie rich lawyer living in Miami and depending on the city for all her amenities. Not so much anymore, when so many of the houses had their own septic tanks, generators, or solar panels. Score one for the rednecks.

She settled between his legs and relaxed, letting her head lean onto his bicep. She stayed like that for a moment, almost falling asleep as he picked up handfuls of water and dropped them down her shoulders, her hair, her neck, washing her. She was almost asleep when he sighed as if a troubling thought suddenly hit him.

"We have to do something about this."

Right away Andrea knew what he was talking about. She groaned quietly. "Rick—"

"Andrea, " he whispered desperately, dragging his hand along her stomach and dropping a kiss to her shoulder. "She's too old to be sleeping with us and I fucking miss this.

Andrea worried her face. "So what are we supposed to do, ignore her when she cries?"

"She knows she'll get what she wants if she cries," Rick told her, christening her skin with another kiss. "She's manipulating us."

She frowned at the thought. "She's a _baby_."

"She's smart enough to know we'll drop everything every time she starts crying," he said. "She's old enough to know better."

Andrea stayed quiet for a moment, digesting his words. She'd never been a parent. She knew he had more experience in the area, but the thought of leaving Judith alone in her crib, crying all night made her feel sick. She sighed, grabbing his arm. "Rick, I can't do it."

"You're not gonna do it alone," he told her. "I know it's gonna be hard, but I promise it'll only take a couple of days. We did it with Carl, and it was the best decision we made. We started sleeping better and he started sleeping better, too."

She pursed her lips, unable to let that worry go. "I know, but she—"

"She'll be fine," he reassured her, tightening his arm around her waist. She still seemed reluctant, melancholic as she picked at the hairs on his arm. He pressed his head to hers and kissed her cheek for reassurance. "Listen, I know you wanna spoil her, but we can't do that, not with the world like this."

He felt a change in her immediately and knew he'd struck a chord there.

"Before the turn... trust me, I'd be home every day with a new toy." She huffed a smile and he smiled in return. "But that world is gone, we have to teach her how to take care of herself. If something happens to us—"

"Stop," she urged him, feeling nauseous just thinking about it. He ran a hand along her hair reassuringly and finally she sighed. "Okay."

Rick smiled. "Trust me on this."

"I trust you," she said as his mouth continued to move along her neck and shoulder. She thought about it one more time, wondering what it would be like. She did trust him, he did have more experience than her, but she was beginning to develop instincts where Judith was concerned. She knew the baby wasn't hers, had never been in her stomach, she hadn't given birth to her. But often she found herself predicting Judith's moods, knowing beforehand when the baby would start crying, knowing when she needed a bottle, a change, or a nap. Maybe it wasn't instinct, maybe it was something she'd learned along the way. It still didn't stop her from feeling terrible about the whole thing.

It would be one thing if it was her child, that might make it easier. But knowing Judith wasn't hers often made her paranoid. If something happened to Judith while she was watching her, would Rick ever forgive her? Would Lori? Would Carl? She couldn't stand the thought of any kind of harm coming to that baby while she was under her care. She would never forgive herself for it.

She'd never voiced those thoughts to Rick. He seemed so carefree about the whole situation. Of course he still worried, but it was different for him, she guessed. He'd grown this family from the first seeds. He knew his children, he was more lax with them, let Carl have his independence.

She, on the other hand, had a family thrust upon them. And she loved them more than she loved anything in this world. But they didn't come with a manual. It was like jumping onto a moving train. It made her paranoid and overprotective of Carl and Judith.

She couldn't think about it too long, because suddenly she felt Rick's arms tighten around her. She rolled her eyes when she felt him again.

"Oh my God, are you serious?"

Rick smiled, feigning ignorance. "What?"

"Again?" she said, looking back at him in disbelief.

"Told you, it's been a while," he said huskily, sliding his hand down her stomach and burying it between her legs. Despite her protests, she moaned when he rubbed her, leaning back into him and burning him as her lower back pinned him between her and his pelvis.

"Rick-"

"I'll be quick," he pleaded.

"We already took too much time," she said weakly as his fingers continued to move in circles.

"So what's a few more minutes?"

She closed her eyes and reveled in the feel of him, his fingers, his hardness pressed against her back, his tongue contouring her ear... but she forced herself to open her eyes. They had too much work to do.

"Come on," she told him, pushing his hand away. She stood up naked before him, ready to leave the tub but at the last second he circled a hand around her wrist and pulled her down so she sat astride him.

Before she could protest again he kissed her deeply, and after a few moments she melted against him. He knew he had her then and she knew, too. Andrea was a kisser. Something about kissing really turned her on and he used that to his advantage as he pulled her towards him and entered her in one quick stroke.

He kept his promise, setting a quick pace right away and she met him thrust for thrust. Water began to wave and splash, spilling from the tub to the floor but Andrea immediately had the sense to find the plug and remove it. The water began to drain as he thrust upwards and she downwards. He tangled his fingers into her hair and pulled her down to a passionate kiss that left her lips bruised and swollen. But he didn't stop, not until her moans became a little louder and she began to dig her nails into the skin of his chest.

Rick stopped putting so much effort then and let her ride him until she began to cry against his chest and came moments later with a sigh. He followed her quickly, gripping her thighs and adding to the collection of bruises he'd left there from earlier encounters.

She rested against his chest for a moment as they tried to find their breaths. As usual she recovered first, pulling back and glancing around the bathroom, returning to her normal self quickly as she frowned.

"Look at the mess you made."

He only had enough energy to open one eye and look at the flooded floors. "_We_ made."

"You started it," she teased him, unsheathing herself from him and leaving the bathtub.

"You finished it," he said after her and closed his eyes again, sleepily. "Leave it there."

Andrea smirked as she dried herself. "Like a sexual memento?" He only smiled languidly, lying on the tub nearly asleep. She clicked her tongue at him. "See? Now you're exhausted. We have work to do today."

"Just give me a moment," he said and grinned. "Find me some Gatorade and I could take you a third time."

"Not gonna happen, come on."

When he opened his eyes she had a hand outstretched to him. He took it, standing on the tub and looking around. They truly had made a mess. There was water everywhere and the mats were soaked. He didn't mind. He actually looked at it with pride.

He walked out of the bathroom naked, drying his hair with a towel. Andrea was already in her underwear, looking for something to put on. She tossed him a pair of clean boxer briefs and he put them on quickly, all the while looking at the bed longingly. God, he wanted to collapse on top if it and sleep for at least three days. But she was right, there was too much work to be done. They needed to tear down the fences and build new ones, stronger ones. They needed to test and make sure the solar panels would hold them through the winter. He needed to check the septic tanks. They needed to organize a run.

Just thinking about all those things they needed to do gave him a little bit of energy, and as she slipped into a pair of jeans he approached her from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Was that good?"

Andrea chuckled. He could be a little devil, but for some reason he always asked her for reassurance. She turned around and pressed her lips to his. "I'm gonna be walking a little funny, but it was perfect."

He grinned widely, proudly, and kissed her neck. "I want you to myself more often."

She sighed quietly. "I already agreed to it, didn't I?"

"I need to know that you're all in," he said, pulling back to look at her seriously. "It's not gonna be easy, Andrea, she's gonna cry a lot and you need to be strong."

She didn't have an answer for him, just gave him a worrying look.

"I know," he told her. "Trust me, it'll hurt us more than it'll hurt her. She'll be fine and we need more alone time. I barely see you during the day; I need you at night."

Andrea smiled. She knew he was right. Her relationship with him was just as important, if not more so, than her relationship with Carl and Judith, and often they were so concerned with the children that days passed without them having the time to touch each other. She spent half her days on the roof keeping watch, half a day looking after Judith and homeschooling Carl. And he spent 12 hours a day outside, clearing and cleaning the area, worrying about herd attacks, worrying about another Governor, hunting, going on runs, making sure they were safe and well fed.

They'd dine with the rest of the group and retire to their bedroom, barely getting 10 minutes of alone time before Judith would start crying.

He was right, she knew. It just didn't make it easier.

Andrea looked at him, still uncertain. "When do we-"

"Tonight."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Tonight?"

Rick shrugged his shoulders. "Why drag it out?"

She sighed, dropping her forehead to his chest. "I'm not ready."

"You won't be ready tomorrow, either, or the day after, or next week," he said, dropping a kiss to the top of her head. "But she's ready. We have to do this."

Andrea worried her features again, reluctant, but she knew she trusted him. She hoped that was enough. "We better warn the others."


End file.
